Can family come work with you?

[Murderscenekid]

Say I have a family and one member buys a restaurant. Could that sim's spouse/siblings work there as a waiter/host/chef? I assume it's adults only so you probably couldn't have a proper family resturant where the kids help out

[MarianT]

Welcome to the Forum, @Murderscenekid! Unlike the retail store, your family members can't take the jobs as a waiter, host, or chef. But they can come to work with you and help out by busing tables and picking up plates that the waiter has dropped. I haven't played with a family in a restaurant, so I don't know whether they can also welcome customers and do the other things that the owner does. They might be able to, which would give them more to do. When my Sims take a child to their retail store with them, I usually have the child do homework.

[desertrose0601]

.... I don't know whether they can also welcome customers and do the other things that the owner does. They might be able to, which would give them more to do.

I haven't actually tried this yet, but it's my understanding that yes, anyone in the household, teen and older, are considered co-owner / manager of the restaurant, and as such can do any of the manager interactions while they're on the restaurant lot.

[coolsim9999999]

Family members in the owner's household may welcome customers, and children may even "recommend a dish" to them. 

I think it's even more efficient to bring all 8 of my Sims because it makes the restaurant more fun and doesn't leave anyone out.  The only con is that only 12 customers may dine at once at a restaurant.  However, when all 8 of my Sims are there, customers think that the service is excellent.  So, I guess, it's just a matter of your personal preference.

[oshizu]

I think it's even more efficient to bring all 8 of my Sims because it makes the restaurant more fun and doesn't leave anyone out.  The only con is that only 12 customers may dine at once at a restaurant. 

That's curious. So there's a game-dictated maximum capacity that limits the number of sims on a restaurant lot to 20 plus the restaurant employees?
*runs off to open my Restaurant Wars game file

[coolsim9999999]

I think it's even more efficient to bring all 8 of my Sims because it makes the restaurant more fun and doesn't leave anyone out.  The only con is that only 12 customers may dine at once at a restaurant. 

That's curious. So there's a game-dictated maximum capacity that limits the number of sims on a restaurant lot to 20 plus the restaurant employees?
*runs off to open my Restaurant Wars game file

That seems to be the case.  I've counted up to 12 customers at a time with my 8 Sims, as the owners, on the restaurant lot.  I know that other lots have a 20 Sim limit. 

The next time my Sims go to one of their restaurants, I'll count the customers, as well as look at the customer counter part.  By doing both, I think I'll get a definitive answer.

[Playalot]

Remember to include any staff in your sim count. I had thought the sim-limit was 20 on a lot but maybe restaurants are different.

[coolsim9999999]

Oh --- so I could be down to 8 customers (1 chef, 1 waitress, 1 host and 1 extended family member who invited my 8 Sims to dine at their restaurant).  I will see what happens today --- I just opened my fancy restaurant for the day a few minutes ago, so we'll see how many people show up. 

Hopefully, more than 8 customers will show up.  I just opened for the day, so, there are only 2 customers because the restaurant has been open for 5 Sim minutes.

I really hope the 20 Sim on a lot maximum does not apply to restaurants.

[oshizu]

I'd never known that lots in general had a 20-sim limit. (@Playalot Thanks for that gem!)
"Recommend dish" is a tricky social. If a sim is recommending when a waiter comes to take an order, no waiter will ever return to that table to take orders. At least, that was my experience.
For that reason, I stopped using "Recommend dish."

Just now, I fired up my former Restaurant Wars file and opened the restaurant for business from my home lot.

When arriving at the restaurant 30 minutes later, I count exactly 20 sims at the restaurant: my owner sim + 5 restaurant employees (host, 2 cooks, 2 waiters) + 14 diners at 8 tables
Of course, this still doesn't prove conclusively whether the 20-count must include the employees or not, but I'm too lazy to keep testing.

@coolsim9999999  I'll be interested to hear what you find!

[coolsim9999999]

@oshizu --- I'll let you know

It's cool that you got a final count of 20 Sims on your restaurant lot.  It looks like my restaurant is going to have a limit of 20, also. 

[coolsim9999999]

I just counted the Sims on my restaurant lot.  Here is what I found:

chef 1
waitress 1
host 1

owner Sims in the same household 8
relative who invited them to dinner 1

Customers 8

20 total

The restaurant has been open for 4 hours --- so I got the dinnertime people.  It's 10 p.m. for them now, so I don't think anyone else will show up.

Edit:  It's been 2 more Sim hours, so it's midnight, and there are 18 Sims.  Therefore, it seems as if a restaurant lot also has a limit of 20 Sims.

[oshizu]

@coolsim9999999

Well, my testing isn't conclusive because I didn't keep my restaurant open for an entire shift.
As @Playalot shared with us on in the comments for Carl's Guide on Dine Out, if you open your restaurant from another lot then travel there, you will arrive at your restaurant with all the diners already seated. I just did that at 6 pm, arriving at the restaurant at 6:30 pm.
I feel like I've seen more than 8 tables filled at one time, but I'm too lazy to keep playing that old file, lol.

Edited: oooh, looks like @Playalot 's 20 sims is the magic number!

[coolsim9999999]

@coolsim9999999

Well, my testing isn't conclusive because I didn't keep my restaurant open for an entire shift.
As @Playalot shared with us on in the comments for Carl's Guide on Dine Out, if you open your restaurant from another lot then travel there, you will arrive at your restaurant with all the diners already seated. I just did that at 6 pm, arriving at the restaurant at 6:30 pm.
I feel like I've seen more than 8 tables filled at one time, but I'm too lazy to keep playing that old file, lol.

Edited: oooh, looks like @Playalot 's 20 sims is the magic number!

@oshizu --- I think @Playalot's 20 Sim number works for restaurants, too, as you can see from my last post in this topic.  I think if we both counted 20 Sims in both of our restaurants, then, 20 must be the number of Sims on a restaurant's lot, as it is on other lots.

[Playalot]

Yay! *cheers* I'm right about something! I open my restaurant from my home lot often. It allows me to serve all the customers in a shorter amount of time, therefore keeping my staff happier as they work shorter hours. It's an all round win. 

[coolsim9999999]

Yay! *cheers* I'm right about something! I open my restaurant from my home lot often. It allows me to serve all the customers in a shorter amount of time, therefore keeping my staff happier as they work shorter hours. It's an all round win.

You're right about so much Sims stuff, @Playalot!  You're always so helpful.

I'm going to start opening my restaurants from my home lot, too, from now on.  Getting more customers served faster and a happier staff would be awesome.